Sermorelin vs. Testosterone: Understanding the Critical Differences

Curious about peptides versus testosterone? Wondering which might be right for your health goals? This deep-dive comparison could save you from serious complications down the road.

Nurse practitioners Kelli White and Nicole Baldwin break down the essential differences between Sermorelin (a peptide) and testosterone replacement therapy, addressing widespread confusion between these distinct hormone treatments. Whether you're an athlete concerned about doping tests or someone seeking better energy, sleep, and body composition, understanding these crucial distinctions is vital before making health decisions.

The episode methodically compares these treatments across multiple factors: their basic hormone types (peptide vs. steroid), mechanisms of action, primary clinical uses, various formulations, onset timing, fertility impacts, side effect profiles, and dependency risks. For athletes and competitive individuals, Kelli emphasizes a critical point—Sermorelin is not an anabolic steroid, making it fundamentally different from testosterone regarding performance testing.

Perhaps most compelling is Nicole's personal story about her extremely fit husband who developed a life-threatening blood clot after just months of testosterone therapy. Despite his regular exercise routine and otherwise excellent health, he now requires lifelong blood thinners and medical monitoring. This real-world cautionary tale highlights why understanding the full risk spectrum matters when considering hormone optimization.

The hosts provide actionable insights about practical considerations too—from testosterone's risk of transfer to children through skin contact to the slower but potentially safer gradual effects of Sermorelin. They've included a helpful comparison chart in the show notes for listeners seeking a visual reference of these differences.

Have questions about which approach might work best for your situation? Reach out to the team through hamiltontelehalth.com, where you can call, text, or email for personalized guidance on navigating these important health decisions. Dont forget to like and subscribe!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro to Samorelin vs. Testosterone
• 1:49 Comparing Hormone Types and Uses
• 3:34 Formulations and Side Effects
• 5:54 Dependency Risks and Athletic Concerns
• 8:45 Personal Experience with Testosterone Risks
• 11:07 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Tattoos and Telehealth. I'm Kelly White, nurse practitioner. This is my great colleague, nicole Baldwin, and, as always, our lawyers make us say this podcast does not constitute a patient provider relationship. This is by no means medical advice. We're just two gals chatting it up and we previously recorded some information about samoralin and all about that peptide, because peptides are the new thing, and so for those of you that have listened to that episode, this is a great one to kind of tag along. We're going to chat about the big differences between samoralin, the peptide, and testosterone, because those two things really do go hand in hand, but there is a huge difference between the two and we wanted to be sure that we kind of touched on that. So if you haven't listened to the podcast about peptides, samoralin, stop, go back, take a listen to Samoralin and then come back and listen to this one, so it'll kind of make more sense, it'll flow a little bit better for you. But so, as you guys know, if you've been listening, I shoot archery.

Speaker 1: 1:16

Nicole is very health conscious, her and her husband work out, and so the world of testosterone comes up a lot.

Speaker 1: 1:24

In my world it's considered doping for the professional archers, they do get tested and so it's a sensitive subject. When they come to me and say, hey Kelly, if I start some more and you know, I know that that's a growth hormone and is it an analog to testosterone and am I going to get tested, is it going to come up? You know what's the deal Because there's a lot of information out there about testosterone. You know there's testosterone supplement, right, nicole, for people that are like low testosterone, and then there's like doping testosterone and there's like this whole gamut in between. And so, as healthcare providers, I especially, um, especially, with hormone replacement therapy, we do a lot of testosterone replacement as and in women. I do it, you know, uh, in bio bioidentical hormones compounded in a cream from my ladies that are perimenopausal or menopausal need that little extra, like there's a whole world of testosterone out there, but there's a big difference, right, between the samoralin peptide and synthetic testosterone. So kind of explain to us what those differences are and why it matters.

Speaker 2: 2:26

Sure, and we can put this chart, this side-by-side chart, in the comments and on our page for you to download it, because there is some pros and cons to both, and so we're just going to go over those.

Speaker 1: 2:39

What's that? Can we put those in the show notes for everybody?

Speaker 2: 2:41

Yeah, yeah, absolutely Absolutely. So let's just go, we're going to go comparison. So the type of hormone that Samorlan is it's a peptide analog of growth-releasing hormone, where testosterone is a steroid hormone and that's the androgen. So two different types of hormones. For the mechanism of action, how this works in your body Samorlan simulates the natural growth hormone production via the pituitary gland and testosterone directly replaces low testosterone levels. So very two different things there.

Speaker 2: 3:15

The primary use for samoriline typically is age-related growth hormone deficiency, body composition, sleep, energy. Testosterone's primary use is for low testosterone or hypogonadism, libido and muscle mass. So some more land age related um deficiency, body composition, lean muscle mass, sleep and energy. Testosterone Um primary use is low testosterone treatment, uh, libido and muscle mass. So for the formulation for Samorlan it is typically an injection, usually under the skin. Testosterone is can also be given an injection. It's also a gel or a cream patch or a pellet. So the main formulation difference that that that I like specifically for this is that if you have young family or you use the cream or the patch, or if another family member even touches it, it can have great repercussions. So for those who have small children or grandchildren, or just around the elderly, or when you have the cream on you have to be very, very, very careful because it will transfer to another person very, very easily. So for the formulation of samoriline, it's injection, usually subcutaneous, which cannot be transferred, and for the testosterone the injection can't be transferred but if you're using the gel or the cream or the patch it can be. So we just want to make sure that you understand the difference in the two. The onset of action for the samorilin it is gradual over time, usually 30 to 60 days, supports natural feedback loop, whereas testosterone does have a faster onset and it gives you that immediate hormone boost. So that's the difference of the um, how long it takes to work.

Speaker 2: 5:12

Um. For the effects on fertility uh, some more land preserves or may even improve fertility, whereas testosterone may suppress sperm production and um make fertility difficult. So um, very, very different um side effects for that and um Samorlan is not FDA approved Um, it's used for off-label for anti-aging and the growth hormone deficiency, and testosterone is FDA approved for hypogonadism, which is low testosterone. Um, it is a controlled substance, um, whereas the uh Samorlan is not a controlled substance Um.

Speaker 2: 5:49

Common side effects for samorlan are injection site redness, flushing, headache and I say common, but those are the most common. But they don't happen commonly. So if you're going to have a side effect, it's super rare but it's going to be injection site redness, flushing or maybe a mild headache, but that itself is very rare. Common side effects with testosterone is acne, grumpiness, mood changes, the gynomastica, where the men start to have a little bit of extra breast tissue, and increased red blood cells you have to go give blood often and also hair loss as well. So with that testosterone, probably the biggest difference that people will this is why one over the other is the acne, the mood changes, the increased breast tissue and having to go give blood on the testosterone as well as hair loss, whereas some Moreland doesn't have any of that.

Speaker 2: 6:43

And we talked about risk to family members. There's none, with the some Moreland high risk with topical forms for risk of transfer to women and children, and then the Each of them have their own different monitoring needs. And the last thing I want to talk about is the dependency risk. Simoralin comes with a low dependency risk. It stimulates natural production, whereas testosterone has a moderate to high risk for dependency and it actually may suppress your own ability to create what testosterone you are creating. So those are the main differences with these two create what testosterone you are creating. So those are the main differences with these two. And we'll have this, uh, this chart, this side-by-side chart, for you guys to uh take a look at, so that you can actually visualize it, see it in your hands and print it out if you want.

Speaker 1: 7:31

And I think the big thing to remember or to take away, at least for me and these situations is testosterone. Natural testosterone is a steroid. It is an anabolic, androgenic steroid. So oftentimes when you hear people use the term anabolic steroids, they are generally referring to a synthetic, in other words, made in a lab, variation of testosterone that is injected in your body. That is not samoriline. Samoriline is not an anabolic steroid. So that is the biggest difference that I think we need to hit home is where one can actually be considered.

Speaker 1: 8:06

This is an anabolic steroid. This is a synthetic steroid. That is not some more Lynn. So that is a huge takeaway for people that are athletes, people that are bodybuilding, that are competing, people that are going to be tested, people that are going to need to know can I use this and not worry about, you know, getting tested or getting in trouble? That's a huge difference. So I think that that's an important thing to take away is that there's a huge difference there and, like Nicole said, a lot of that has to do with the fact that the dependency level right. So there's a, there's a, there's a dependency over here that's pretty strong for one versus the other and that also draws the line there between steroids.

Speaker 2: 8:43

Sure, and I also want to say important close to home, is that my spouse was on testosterone and he ended up with a blood clot. Very healthy, like super, like gym, six to seven days a week, super health conscious Um, he hasn't always been, but over the last couple of years he's so you know he has been was in the best shape of his life. Um got on some testosterone, was on it for a few months and got a blood clot in his leg. Because of his activity level he was a at a extremely low risk for a blood clot. We went to the, to the ER. We've been to hematology oncology I'm sorry, not hematologist, oncologist, but hematology where they tried to figure out exactly why he got this blood clot and it came down to testosterone use.

Speaker 2: 9:36

And I don't know how much you guys know about a blood clot, but once you get one you are more prone to them and it can be life changing, life altering. Um, blood clots can go to your brain, they can go to your lungs, they can go to your heart, they can be fatal and um, it is not something to uh play around with. So, uh, some Moreland does not come with that uh risk, and that was the big thing for us and why we're really big on some Moreland because we want to make sure the benefit always outweighs the risk of any type of therapy and because testosterone does come with this type of risk. It's definitely concerning and you know it hit close to home, he. He had a blood clot for several, several months and he's on a blood thinner for the rest of his life because of testosterone. That's crazy, but he's doing much better now. He is. He is. He is doing much better now.

Speaker 2: 10:28

But still frequent follow-ups with hematology labs. I mean, they ran so many labs on him trying to find what else it could have been, um, and it it all came back. It all came back to testosterone. So, yeah, so there's a no for us. So, um, if we can, if someone else can learn from us and and and avoid, avoid that type of, uh, medical issue, then it's, you know, definitely want to put that out there. So we just wanted to make sure we talked to you guys about that and if you guys have any questions, let us know. You can find us at hamiltontelehealthcom, you can text us, you can call us, you can email us. All that information is on the website and we hope you have a fabulous week.

Speaker 1: 11:04

All right, you guys, take care, we'll see you next time. Bye, bye.